Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton
Format The competition exists out of four runs over two consecutive days. The fastest 20 athletes after three runs are allowed to participate in the last (fourth) run. The competitor with the lowest aggregate time for all four runs is the winner. Preview Thirty athletes qualified for the event, with local hero Yun Sung-bin (number 1 in the rankings) and Latvian Martins Dukurs (two-time silver Olympic medalist) being the main favorites, although Germany was also well represented, with Axel Jungk, Christopher Grotheer and Alexander Gassner also contenders for a medal. Outsiders Tomass Dukurs and Nikita Tregubov had proven to be able to perform well, winning medals at the Olympic test event a year before. Both the oldest competitor Dave Greszczyszyn and the youngest competitor Vladyslav Heraskevych, who are about 20 years apart, make their Olympic debut. The continent of Africa is represented for the first time, with Akwasi Frimpong representing Ghana, and Jamaica also participates for the first time, represented by Anthony Watson. Norway had participated only once before, this time Alexander Henning Hanssen competing. Eighteen out of thirty racers compete for the first time at an Olympic tournament. This is in sharp contrast to the brothers Dukurs, who are competing for the fourth time, with older brother Tomass already participating back at Salt Lake City 2002. Frimpong was chosen to carry the Ghanese flag during the opening ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018, due to the groundbreaking achievement of being the first athlete of the country to compete in skeleton. Current Records Summary Run 1 The first run already caused a new track record. Yun Sung-bin broke the current track record with almost 0.4 seconds, while Russian Nikita Tregubov would have broken the track record as well, only 5 minutes later. Dom Parsons was able to finish 5th, after a slow start, and Korean Kim Ji-soo was able to get the 4th time, despite not being one of the pre-race favorites. Run 2 The second run not only featured a new track record, but also a new start record. Yun Sung-bin once again broke the track record, finishing 0.2 seconds faster than the time he set earlier on the day. He also broke the start record, breaking it by only 0.02 seconds. There were no real changes in the top of the standings, with Yun Sung-bin and Nikita Tregubov still covering first and second place, while Axel Jungk ran the 9th time of the second run, dropping from third to seventh place. Dom Parsons once again had a slow start, having the 20th fastest start time, eventually running the third time, rising to fourth place after the first day. Run 3 Yun Sung-bin proved his dominance once again, getting the fastest time of the third run. Nikita Tregubov, who was in second place after the third day, finished in the fifth fastest time, dropping to fourth place in the provisional standings, while Martins Dukurs and Dominic Parsons climbed up to second and third place, respectively. Run 4 Yun Sung-bin broke a record for the third time, breaking his own track record once again, dominating the men's skeleton by winning all four runs. Nikita Tregubov regained his second place, narrowly beating Dominic Parsons by only 0.02 of a second, while Martins Dukurs had the fifth fastest time, dropping down to fourth place in the final ranking. Results Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton/StartList|Startlist Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton/Run1|Run 1 Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton/Run2|Run 2 Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton/Run3|Run 3 Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton/Run4|Run 4 Skeleton 2018/Men's skeleton/Standings|Standings||true Category:Pyeongchang 2018 Events Category:Skeleton 2018